Search

ICE Raids New York Dairy Without A Warrant

A dairy farmer in New York was roughed up by ICE agents on Monday when he confronted them about arresting one of his employees without a warrant.

According to news website Syracuse.com, farmer John Collins heard yelling coming from inside his parlor and ran in to find his employee, Marcial deLeon Aguilar, pinned up against a window by armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

Collins says the men did not identify themselves at first but later told him they were ICE agents. When asked for a warrant Collins says they didn’t have one, pushed him around, handcuffed Aguilar and drug him across the road to their cars while his children watched from a nearby bus stop.

According to Kelly Fortier, a farm immigration attorney with firm Michael Best, you do not have to give private property access to any government official without consent.

“Unless they have some kind of subpoena or warrant, they’re not allowed to just walk around without the permission of the business owner,” she says.

The story from Syracuse.com says Aguilar has worked for Collins for about nine months. He and his wife Virginia, who was recently caught crossing the border illegally with her children and had been working with ICE to gain asylum from dangerous Guatemala, live in a home on the farm.

An ICE spokesperson told Syracuse.com they were investigating the farmer’s claims and had no further comments.

Interested in learning more about what to do if ICE comes to your farm? Read this story.

Categories

Footer Third

About Milk Magazine

The mission of Farm Journal's MILK is to connect with large-dairy producers—those with 500 or more cows—and provide them with the information and resources they need to run their operation and continue to expand opportunistically.